Wednesday, June 15, 2005

CODEPINK's Stop The Next War Now (excerpt from Arundhati Roy's introduction

In January 2003, thousands of us from across the world gathered in Porto Alegre in Brazil and declared -- reiterated -- that "Another World Is Possible." A few thousand miles north, in Washington, George W. Bush and his aides were thinking the same thing.

Our project was the World Social Forum. Theirs -- to further what many call the Project for the New American Century.

In the great cities of Europe and America, where a few years ago these things would only have been whispered, now people are openly talking about the good side of imperialism and the need for a strong empire to police an unruly world. The new missionaires want order at the cost of justice. Discipline at the cost of dignity. And ascendancy at any price. Occasionally some of us are invited to "debate" the issue on "neutral" platforms provided by the corporate media. Debating imperialism is a bit like debating the pros and cons of rape. What can we say? That we really miss it?

In any case, New Imperialism is already upon us. It's a remodeled, streamlined version of what we once knew. For the first time in history, a single empire with an arsenal of weapons that could obliterate the world in an afternoon has complete, unipolar, economic and military hegemony. It uses different weapons to break open different markets. There isn't a country on God's earth that is not caught in the crosshairs of the American cruise missile and the IMF checkbook. Agrentina's the model if you want to be the poster boy of neoliberal capitalism,Iraq if you're the black sheep.

The above is from Arundhati Roy's "Introduction" to Stop The Next War Now: Effective Responses To Violence and Terrorism.We've highlighted from the CODEPINK book before and we'll do so again. I'm serious about this, we'll work our way through with a highlight for each section. It might take a year at this rate, but we'll do it.

We've already noted Alice Walker's foreword and Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans preface. Granted, we're only now up to the introduction, but we will highlight something from each section of this book. It's an important book. In a world where Bullies Without Borders scream "Attack! Bomb! Kill!" to anything and everything, this book reminds you there are alternatives and that we can reclaim our own humanity.

It won't come via the Bully Boy who offers no leadership, no hope, only fear.

On May 4th we noted this:Code Pink has a book out entitled Stop the Next War Now. For more information, see Code Pink or BuzzFlash. The book contains contributions from a number of women this community has noted and highlighted. Among the contributors: Medea Benjamin, Amy Goodman, Barbara Lee, Naomi Klein, Eve Ensler, and Arianna Huffington.

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